Dimitris Saravakos ( el, Δημήτρης Σαραβάκος; born 26 July 1961), nicknamed "The Kid" ''( el, "ο Μικρός")'', is a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

former international

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. Saravakos is widely considered to be one of the greatest Greek footballers of all time and a Panathinaikos' legend. The

IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

chose him in the best XI of all time of Greek football in 2021.

Club career

Panionios

Saravakos started his professional career at

Panionios Panionios G.S.S. Football Club (Greek: ΠΑΕ Πανιώνιος Γ.Σ.Σ.), the ''Pan- Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'' (Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis'') ...

where, at the age of 16, on 26 December 1977, he made his debut in the

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

against Egaleo. In his second season at Panionios, he won the

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most ...

in 1979 defeating the then champion,

AEK Athens A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadel ...

by 3–1. During the 1981–82 season, Saravakos had the most productive year in the club as he scored 13 goals in the league, while his performances also made him an international. In his last year with Panionios he scored 10 goals in 28 appearances. On May 19, 1984, Panionios played a barrage match for their stay in the division against

PAS Giannina PAS Giannina Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ ΠΑΣ Γιάννινα 1966), or with its full name Panepirotikos Athlitikos Syllogos Giannina ( el, Πανηπειρωτικός Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Γιάννινα, ''Panepirotic Athleti ...

, which was decided at the extra time with Saravakos scoring in the 104th minute and giving the lead to Panionios who prevailed by 2–0. In total, he played in Panionios for seven years, recording 132 appearances and 35 goals in the league.

Panathinaikos

On June 22, 1984, Saravakos was transferred to

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

for 60 million drachmas. In addition to Saravakos, he also acquired

Velimir Zajec Velimir Zajec (born 12 February 1956) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player who last managed Dinamo Zagreb. Club career Zajec began his career at Dinamo Zagreb in 1974, aged 18. During 10 years at the club, he helped them ...

and the addition of the latter in combination with the presence of

Juan Ramon Rocha ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

, made the midfield of the team particularly creative, thus the attacking virtues of Saravakos were fully exploited. During his first year at Panathinaikos, he was the second top scorer in the league. He scored his first goal for Panathinaikos on September 23, 1984, against OFI. On 25 November 1984 he scored his first goal in the derby of Athens against AEK in a 3–2 win. On 20 February 1985 he also scored in the derby of the eternal enemies against

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

in a 2–1 for the Cup. In the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

his presence was decisive for the qualification of Panathinaikos to the

semi-finals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

of the institution. Panathinaikos, having qualified against

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names before settling on being called after its ...

, faced Linfield and in the rematch found themselves losing in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

by 3–0. Saravakos' goal started the counterattack that led to the equalizer and the qualification. In the next round, Saravakos creating an excellent attacking duo with Thanasis Dimopoulos, scored against

Göteborg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has a p ...

Gamla Ullevi Gamla Ullevi () is a football stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden, that opened on 5 April 2009. The stadium replaced the city's previous main football stadium, also called Gamla Ullevi, and is the home ground of GAIS, IFK Göteborg and Örgryte IS. ...

giving Panathinaikos the victory. In the second leg, his goal at the 78th minute, equalized at 2–2, leading his team to the semi-finals of the competition. In the following season Saravakos won the domestic double. In the Cup he scored in the semi-final against AEK the goal that sent the "greens" to the final. There, he scored 2 goals in the imposing 4–0 win over Olympiacos, which is also the biggest victory in a final of eternal enemies. In the UEFA Cup, his two goals in each leg, against

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

were not enough to qualify them for the next round. On May 3, 1987, he scored his fastest goal in a derby, in the first minute of the match against AEK which ended 0–3. In the European Cup, the "greens" were close to a big comeback against Red Star, when with goals from Saravakos and Dimopoulos, found themselves winning in the rematch with 2–0, one goal away from the tie of the first match. On November 8, 1987, he scored in a 1–4 win against Olympiacos. In the UEFA Cup by scoring against

Auxerre Auxerre ( , ) is the capital of the Yonne department and the fourth-largest city in Burgundy. Auxerre's population today is about 35,000; the urban area (''aire d'attraction'') comprises roughly 113,000 inhabitants. Residents of Auxerre are r ...

, he secured Panathinaikos' qualification to the second leg. In the first match of the next round, he scored a goal with an excellent shot outside the area, and gave Panathinaikos a 1–0 victory against

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

. On the rematch he opened the score and led the club to the next round. In fact, the big Italian team after their elimination showed interest in acquiring him, without proceeding with a proposal. In the next round, Panathinaikos found themselves losing with 5–0 by Honvéd in

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

. Saravakos did not give up the effort and reduced it to 5–2 with 2 goals, resulting in Panathinaikos winning 5–1 in the second leg and qualifying. In the

quarter-finals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

his goal against Club Brugge was not enough for them to qualify. In the Cup, Saravakos scored three goals in total on both legs against the then champion, AEL and the "greens" qualified to the final. Facing Olympiacos again, the duo of Saravakos-Dimopoulos was successful again as with their 2 goals, Panathinaikos claimed the title on penalties, where they won 4–3. In June 1988 the then president of Olympiacos,

George Koskotas George Koskotas ( el, Γιώργος Κοσκωτάς; born 1953, Athens) is a former banker and publisher who spearheaded a financial scandal that brought down the PASOK government in 1989. Early life Koskotas was born in Greece on October 5, 19 ...

, offered Saravakos the "unrealistic" amount for the Greek data of 600 million drachmas, but failed to dress the athlete in the red and white shirt. On 24 August 1988 he won the Super Cup against AEL winning 3–1. At the end of the season, Panathinaikos emerged as the Cup winner again with Saravakos, scoring a goal in the final against Panionios. In the summer of 1989, Panathinaikos acquired the striker

Krzysztof Warzycha Krzysztof Ireneusz Warzycha (, el, Κριστόφ Βαζέχα; born 17 November 1964) is a Greek-Polish former professional footballer who played as a forward for Ruch Chorzów and for Greek club Panathinaikos. At international level, he re ...

, who connected perfectly with Saravakos and the two of them led the club to the championship in 1990. On February 25, 1990, Saravakos played for the third time in his career in a match where Panathinaikos scored 4 goals against Olympiacos, winning 3–4 in the

Karaiskakis Stadium The Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium ( el, Στάδιο Γεώργιος Καραϊσκάκης), commonly referred to as the Karaiskakis Stadium ( el, Στάδιο Καραϊσκάκη, ), is a football stadium in Piraeus, Attica, Greece, and the ...

, with him as the captain. In the semi-final of the Greek Cup, Saravakos scored a hat trick against Olympiacos, but the final score of 3–3 was not enough to overturn the 2–1 score of the first match. In the

Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

he scored a goal in Panathinaikos' 3–2 win over

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

. The next season, Saravakos emerged as the league's top scorer with 23 goals. Panathinaikos won another double by finishing first, while they were also crowned Cup winners with 10 goals by Saravakos. The season 1991–92 was the most prolific in goals in the league for Saravakos who scored 24 goals. On January 26, 1992, he scored in a 3–0 victory over Olympiacos. On 9 February 1992, with his 2 goals in 2 minutes, Panathinaikos prevailed 2–0 over AEK. In the quarter-finals of the Cup, Saravakos' goal gave Panathinaikos a qualifying score over Olympiacos, until the 90th minute, when they were equalized and eliminated on away goals. In Europe, Saravakos led Panathinaikos to the groups of the first edition of the Champions League. In the qualifying matches against Göteborg, he scored 3 of Panathinaikos' 4 goals. The first match ended in favor of Panathinaikos 2–0 with Saravakos opening the score. In the rematch, the Swedish were leading 2–0, equaling the result of the first match, but with 2 goals, Saravakos tied at 2-2 and led Panathinaikos to the quarter-finals. An important moment for Saravakos was his participation in

World XI In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

alongside

Stratos Apostolakis Stratos Apostolakis ( el, Στράτος Αποστολάκης; born 17 May 1964), nicknamed The Turbo, is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a defender or a defensive midfielder. Career Apostolakis was no stranger to contro ...

in 1992 in a protest match due to the

invasion An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

. In the 1992–93 season, Saravakos won the Cup with Panathinaikos, while participating in the European competitions, where the "greens" set a goal record, both in one match and in the total of the 2 matches against Electroputere Craiova with 10 goals with him scoring once. On August 18 of 1993 he scored the decider against AEK for the Super Cup. In the 1993–94 season, he won for the 6th time in his career the Cup. On November 2, 1993, Saravakos played for the last time in his career with Panathinaikos in a European competition in the away victory against

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, t ...

with 1–2, opening the scoring in the 6th minute.

AEK Athens

In the summer of 1994, his contract was not renewed and Saravakos left Panathinaikos, at the age of 33, signing for AEK Athens. On August 10, 1994, he played in his first official match with AEK, which was one of the most memorable with their shirt against Rangers securing the qualification to the Champions League group stage for the first time in their history. Saravakos with his 2 goals in the first match, gave the victory to AEK, which prevailed in the rematch. His presence in the league was equally satisfactory as he emerged as the second scorer with 21 goals. On 1 April 1995 he scored for the last time in the derby against Olympiacos. At the end of the season they lost the Cup in final against Panathinaikos, where he lost a crucial penalty. In the following season with the "yellow-blacks", he won his third another Super Cup against his former club. On 3 December 1995 he scores his last goal for the "yellow-blacks" with a direct corner kick in a 4–0 against OFI. His advanced age and the injuries he was facing had a result not to offer much at the club. AEK played incredible football and won the Cup but finished second in the league. At the end of the year, AEK, respecting his contribution to the club, released him by terminating his contract by mutual consent.

Retirement

In the summer of 1997 after a year of absence from football Saravakos returned to Panathinaikos to end his career in his favorite club. He competed in just 2 league games before retiring in the summer of 1998. He is the leading scorer in history with 16 goals in the

Derby of the eternal enemies The derby of the eternal rivals ( el, Ντέρμπι των αιωνίων αντιπάλων), also called mother of all battles (Greek: μητέρα των μαχών), is a football local derby in the Athens urban area (Athens/Piraeus) between ...

. He kept the record for the best Greek scorer in

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

competitions, with 25 goals, before he was surpassed by

Demis Nikolaidis Themistoklis "Demis" Nikolaidis ( el, Ντέμης Νικολαΐδης; born 17 September 1973) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a striker. He was the forty second president of AEK Athens, and is considered one of the fi ...

International career

Saravakos was a key member of

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, with whom he competed between 1982 and 1994. He is fourth top scorer in the history of the national team with 22 goals in 78 appearances. He was part of the team that claimed qualification for the

UEFA Euro 1988 The 1988 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in West Germany from 10 to 25 June 1988. It was the eighth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. The tournament crowned Netherlan ...

and contributed to the great success of qualifying for the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. He also played for the Mediterranean team in the 1983 Mediterranean Games in

Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

, where on 11/9/83 he scored the team's second goal in a 2–1 against

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

. In 1983 he participated in 4 matches with the Olympic team.

Style of play

Saravakos was one of the most popular and charismatic players of Greek football. He possessed excellent technical training and footballing intelligence, with a strong emphasis on finishing, game development and a keen ability to score goals, being regarded as one of the most effective takers in all foul and penalty kicks.

After football

Since 2013 he serves as Strategic Adviser for Panathinaikos a position created especially for him.

Personal life

His father Thanasis, was also an international footballer of Panionios.

Honours

;Panionios *

: 1978–79 ;Panathinaikos *

Greek Championship The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

: 1985–86, 1989–90, 1990–91 *Greek Cup: 1985–86, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1990–91, 1992–93, 1993–94 *

Greek Super Cup The Greek Super Cup ( el, Σούπερ Καπ Ελλάδος), officially known as the Cup of Friendship and Solidarity ( el, Κύπελλο Φιλίας και Αλληλεγγύης) was a Greek Football (soccer), association football one-match ...

: 1988, 1993 ;AEK Athens *Greek Cup: 1995–96 *Greek Super Cup: 1996

Statistics

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align: center" , - ! rowspan=2 , Season ! rowspan=2 , Club ! colspan=2 ,

League League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

! colspan=2 ,

Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay, ...

! colspan=2 , Super Cup ! colspan=2 ,

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

! colspan=2 ,

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

! colspan=2 ,

, - !Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals , - , 1977–78 , rowspan=7 ,

, 1 , 0 , ? , ? , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , - , 1978–79 , 9 , 0 , 1 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , - , 1979–80 , 12 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , - , 1980–81 , 33 , 4 , 3 , 2 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , - , 1981–82 , 31 , 13 , ? , ? , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 1 , 0 , - , 1982–83 , 28 , 8 , 2 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 4 , 1 , - , 1983–84 , 28 , 10 , 8 , 5 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 5 , 0 , - , 1984–85 , rowspan=10 ,

, 23 , 15 , ? , 1 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 8 , 3 , 6 , 1 , - , 1985–86 , 29 , 15 , ? , 5 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 2 , 2 , 9 , 2 , - , 1986–87 , 23 , 13 , ? , 4 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 2 , 1 , 7 , 3 , - , 1987–88 , 26 , 5 , ? , 9 , 1 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 8 , 6 , 10 , 1 , - , 1988–89 , 25 , 5 , ? , 7 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 2 , 0 , 10 , 4 , - , 1989–90 , 24 , 11 , ? , 8 , 0 , 0 , 4 , 3 , 3 , 3 , 8 , 6 , - , 1990–91 , 30 , 23 , ? , 10 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 2 , 1 , 9 , 2 , - , 1991–92 , 33 , 24 , ? , 3 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 10 , 3 , ? , ? , - , 1992–93 , 14 , 2 , ? , 2 , 1 , 1 , 0 , 0 , 2 , 1 , 2 , 1 , - , 1993–94 , 25 , 15 , ? , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 4 , 3 , 6 , 1 , - , 1994–95 , rowspan=2 ,

, 30 , 21 , 10 , 3 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 8 , 2 , 1 , 0 , - , 1995–96 , 17 , 1 , 7 , 4 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 3 , 0 , 0 , 0 , - , 1997–98 ,

, 2 , 0 , ? , ? , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , - ! colspan=2 , Total ! 443 ! 185 ! 31 ! 63 ! 2 ! 1 ! 4 ! 3 ! 54 ! 25 ! 78 ! 22 , -

References

External links

UEFA.com's article for SaravakosDimitris Saravakos official Facebook page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saravakos, Dimitris Panathinaikos F.C. players AEK Athens F.C. players 1961 births Living people 1994 FIFA World Cup players Greece international footballers Panionios F.C. players Super League Greece players Footballers from Athens Greek footballers Panathinaikos F.C. non-playing staff Association football midfielders Association football wingers Greek beach soccer players